Friday

Sep 17, 2010 at 12:01 AMSep 17, 2010 at 4:17 PM

It looked like a disaster waiting to happen for the Illinois defense a week before the football season. The unit that ranked last in the Big Ten in total defense and scoring defense from a year ago faced massive personnel shortage because of injuries, forcing a raid on the offensive depth chart for emergency help. Somebody get the life raft. But two games into the season, the Illini defense appears headed in the right direction.

It looked like a disaster waiting to happen for the Illinois defense a week before the football season.

The unit that ranked last in the Big Ten in total defense and scoring defense from a year ago faced massive personnel shortage because of injuries, forcing a raid on the offensive depth chart for emergency help. Somebody get the life raft. But two games into the season, the Illini defense appears headed in the right direction.

"That's the word on the street,'' said Illini outside linebacker Nate Bussey.

It's still early in the building, and defensive coordinator Vic Koenning has only a two-game resume here. Northern Illinois and its talented running game provides the next test Saturday at Memorial Stadium. With Koenning in the program, there's a different expectation level around the defense.

Maybe the hardest man to convince is Koenning. The victory over Southern Illinois was against an FCS program, and Missouri might not have been awake in the first half of the season opener. Koenning walked off the practice field Wednesday with a scowl and demanded his defense "improve everyday,'' he said.

No. 2 Ohio State looms, and the Big Ten Conference opener appears on the horizon, when Illinois faces a different level of challenge.

"It's a long climb to the penthouse and a short fall to the outhouse,'' Koenning said. "We've got to get some of the same guys doing the same things more than one week in a row.''

Hired as defensive coordinator during the coaching overhaul last December, Koenning is called "a leader, an enforcer'' by safety Tavon Wilson, "a genius'' by defensive end/bandit Clay Nurse. Whether it's brains, hard work, less confusion with only one coordinator instead of two or the his-way-or-the-highway approach, Illinois is showing a pulse under Koenning.

"I knew he was demanding the first time we had a defensive meeting with him as our coordinator,'' Bussey said. "He came in and the first thing he said was, 'You are going to do what I ask you to do, and if you don't like it, there's the door.' ''

From that first meeting, it was sit up and pay attention or watch out for Koenning's white Illini ballcap, the one that was green with grass stains at Camp Rantoul.

"He doesn't let you slouch,'' Wilson said. "If you do, he tells you to sit up or you're going to get the hat.''

In the first two games, Illinois allowed 72 rushing yards per game to rank third in the Big Ten and 12th in the nation. The 13 points per game allowed is third in the Big Ten and 22nd nationally. Last season, Illinois gave up 30.2 points and 403.2 total yards. With Koenning bringing a new system, Illinois learned a defense with a multiple front that often falls into a 3-4. Teaching was - and still is - a big part of Koenning's workload.

"I called him a genius because of the way he explained things and draws up schemes,'' Nurse said. "You look at the board and think, 'That's not going to work.' When you get outside and physically perform the duties, then it's, 'Wow, I see why he wanted it like that.' ''

It might also be Koenning's ability to get players to play a role, do something unselfish to make the system work.

"Some of the guys had to learn how to peel potatoes for our teammates,'' Nurse said.

Linebackers coach Dan Disch and former Illini assistant Curt Mallory were co-defensive coordinators for the past three seasons. There was the feeling that they were only doing what Zook told them. That's a lot of hands in the soup.

"When two people of the same authority have different opinions, it could cause confusion or mental clutter,'' Bussey said.

Koenning still must determine his plans at the bandit, the hybrid linebacker/defensive end position. Sophomore Michael Buchanan started the season there, but he's suspended after a DUI arrest. Nurse moved from defensive end to bandit against Southern Illinois with Whitney Mercilus moving up to earn his first college start at defensive end against SIU.

The Nurse-Mercilus combo played well, but it affected the Illini depth at defensive end, Koenning said. The imminent return of bandit Nate Palmer from turf toe suffered in preseason camp may change plans. For now, Nurse will learn both positions.

"I need to be as versatile as possible,'' Nurse said.

In the season's first two weeks, life is already better, Wilson said, than the pas couple of seasons when the fingers were pointed at the defense. He called it "stressful. No one wants to be the cause of losing games.'' The attitude of students on campus changed. So did their comments.

"The last couple years, people had concerns about the team,'' Wilson said. "Now, it's more of a positive attitude, like 'You guys can be pretty good,' rather than you should do this or that, trying to coach us, and they're not even coaches.''

The defense has a coach, and they seem to be listening to Koenning.

John Supinie can be reached at Johnsupinie@aol.com.

Illinois (1-1) vs. Northern Illinois (1-1)

When: 11 a.m. Saturday

Where: Memorial Stadium (62,870), Champaign

Series record: Illinois leads 3-0

Last meeting: Illinois 17-12 (2001)

Rankings: Both teams unranked

Radio:

TV: Big Ten Network

The line:

Coaches: Ron Zook, 22-40 in sixth year at Illinois, 45-54 in ninth year overall; Jerry Kill, 14-14 in his third year at NIU, 118-71 in 17th year overall.

Notable: Illinois is 12-0 against the other public universities in the state. Besides the win in 2001, Illinois also defeated NIU 34-10 in 1994 and 30-14 in 1992. … Illinois running back Mikel Leshoure ranks sixth in the Big Ten and 20th in the nation by averaging 113.5 yards per game. He surpassed 100 yards in both games this season and five of his past eight games overall. … The three points allowed vs. Southern Illinois last weekend were the fewest by an Illini defense since shutting out Western Illinois in 2007. … NIU was picked to win the west division in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll. … Huskies running back Chad Spann leads the MAC in rushing with 110 yards per game. Quarterback Chandler Harnish ranks second after rushing for 178 vs. North Dakota last weekend. ... Senior wide receiver Eddie McGee is not expected to play because of an injury.

Quotable: "It was kind of embarrassing to give up a lot of points like that. We're going to be better this year than last year.'' - Illinois linebacker Nate Bussey.

Prediction: Illinois 27, Northern Illinois 20

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